Eradius of The Imperial Fists
by Kriegslied
Summary: In this Fic you'll be following the adventures of a new recruit of the Imperial Fist named Eradius, this will start out with the battle of Ullanor where he gets his first taste of true war, and to his surprise he finds out that this war won't be as easy as he thought it would.
1. Battle of Ullanor Part 1

**This is the first chapter of the Imperial Fists story I really hope that you like or at least find a little interest in it.**

The Imperial Fists of the VII legion led by Primarch Rogal Dorn were a magnificent sight to see as they prepared to drop on the Greenskin world Ullanor Prime. The Astartes in their yellow and black armor marched into stormbirds readying themselves for the battle to come, they wielded chain swords and bolters and many other weapons all while chanting in a low drone only adding to the awe of the sight.

The Astartes sat down and strapped themselves in waiting for the Primarch's signal for them all to launch down to the surface. A wave of tension spread throughout the Astartes as they waited and captain Tordaval knew this, he then stood among his brothers.

" _Do not worry brothers for we are the Imperial fists, the Greenskins will cower at the sight of us, they will realize the mistake in making enemies of the Emperor once the slaughter begins, their ranks will shatter in the first charge and we will cut every single one of them down, and when we enter the field of combat what will we shout_ "

the captain paused looking amongst the Astartes and for a long minute there was nothing but silence, but it was broken when all one hundred Astartes of the Imperial Fists 5th Legion Breachers cried.

" _PRIMARCH-PROGENITOR, TO YOUR GLORY AND THE GLORY OF HIM ON EARTH!_ "

when they were finished the tension was gone, replaced with a feeling of excitement, the captain smiled and sat down with his brothers waiting for their victory. The minutes seemed like hours while they waited in the stormbird, but eventually the Vox channels came on and the voice of Rogal Dorn was heard

" _All stormbirds are to launch immediately to the surface of Ullanor, coordinates will be relayed to each squad individually, and remember that this is for the Emperor"_

At Dorn's command every single stormbird in the _Phalanx_ launched out of their bays bolting towards Ullanor

The stormbird shook as it entered the atmosphere, but none of the Astartes were affected by the force of the turbulence, they simply sat there waiting for the craft to land and let them loose upon the world.

* * *

The Astartes of the 5th company checked their weapons and armor as they waited, a feeling of exhilaration spread throughout them all as they finished their checks, the most excited of them all was an Astartes toward the rear of the stormbird near the hatch, his name was Eradius and he practically shook with the idea of conquering the Greenskin planet. Eradius was a new Astartes of the VII Legion and had never conquered a planet before, but he had an idea of what it would be like. He imagined it to be glorious and fulfilling, it had to be they were _Astartes_ and they could never lose against such primitive barbarians such as the Greenskins.

While he thought about the joys of warfare the stormbird landed and the hatch started to open, he was brought out of his thoughts by one of his brothers shaking his shoulder

" _do you plan on staying in here as we win this war, or do you wish to join us Eradius_ " his squad mate joked.

He unstrapped himself and gathered his shield and Bolter and stepped out of the stormbird running to join his squad, who were already in formation amongst the other Legion Breacher squads.

The Captain stepped in front of the 5th company

" _today my brothers we will kill, conquer, and die as one unit of war, today we test ourselves truly against the largest Greenskin horde ever known to man and we will come out victorious"_

As the Captain said these words, they all heard they hordes of Greenskins approaching

" _Ere we go, ere we go, ere we go"_ the chant of the Greenskins could be heard from miles away

The Captain raised his bolter in the air _"Do you hear them brothers, these are the voices of your enemies, this is their chant of war, but it holds no meaning compared to ours, let me hear you brothers!"_

The Astartes raised their weapons in the air and shouted

" _PRIMARCH-PROGENITOR, TO YOUR GLORY AND THE GLORY OF HIM ON EARTH!_ "

The Captain seemed satisfied with their response and turned toward the incoming horde and uttered a single phrase over the Vox channels of the 5th company _"Charge brothers and bring glory to the Emperor"_

The 5th company surged forward alongside many other companies of Astartes like a wave. Eradius brought his Bolter up just in time to shoot an Ork boy through the head spraying brains all over the advancing forces though they didn't even bat an eye at the sheer carnage already being laid out among their ranks. Eradius continued to fire at the endless tide, his brothers slowly began to be overwhelmed by the numbers of the Orks, Eradius held the trigger down until he heard the last thing that he wanted to hear in this situation and that was the sound of an empty chamber, Eradius knew what this meant, he was out of ammo, he needed to reload, he needed time to comprehend this bloodbath that was supposed to be a walk in the park, looking around he saw Astartes hacked to bits by axes and blown apart by machine guns. Eradius stepped back allowing one of his Battle-Brothers to take his place as he reloaded, this was not the glorious battle he expected nor was it fulfilling to watch his brothers get hacked to pieces, but this was how true war was really meant to be played out.

Once finished reloading Eradius stepped back into the thick of the battle firing again and again into the never-ending horde. Eradius bellowed as he bashed an Ork with his shield, the Ork fell to the ground and before it could recover Eradius ran it through with his Chain sword twisting and snapping the blade off in its chest. Discarding the now useless sword Eradius raised his Bolter and continued to shoot rounds into the Orks, it continued like this for hours until over the Vox he heard Captain Tordaval

" _fall back and let the_ _3_ _rd_ _take over our position, we will resupply and patch up the wounded then we will take over for the 9_ _th_ _"._

Eradius looked around the him as his brothers of the 3rd company clashed against the Ork lines and then set his eyes upon a gold and red form on the ground. Eradius ran over and lifted the man to his feet

" _Thank you, brother, if you didn't see me there then I would've had to crawl back to the resupply area"_ he smiled at Eradius and laughed heartily

" _It's fine you would've done the same if I were in your position"_ Eradius replied already knowing that if he had been in this man's position he would've been dead.

* * *

Once Eradius arrived at the resupply point Tordaval waved him over " _Eradius I need you to take your squad along with two other squads that I have already chosen and make your way up the mountain side to offer support to Horus and the main charge, I've chosen you to lead them to Horus"_

Eradius stared back at Tordaval with a bewildered look " _My Lord why am I leading these men surely there are others that are more qualified"_ Eradius shot back with hesitation, Tordaval smiled at Eradius

" _There are others more qualified but they're busy leading the legion to victory"_ Tordaval seemed to listen to something over the Vox and then nodded towards Eradius

" _It seems the squads are ready to move, you should move along and meet with them you leave in 20 minutes for the mountains"_ Tordaval finished and walked towards the command tent leaving Eradius to head towards the rendezvous point.

Once Eradius arrived he was met with the rest of his squad, a squad of scouts, and two hulking Dreadnoughts. The Lieutenant of the scout squad stepped up and saluted

" _I am Lieutenant Wyatt, my men and I are ready to move when ready sir"_

Eradius nodded and looked to the towering Dreadnoughts, the first to step up wielded a heavy flamer and a set of lightning claws on the opposite hand, the Dreadnought turned it's exterior speakers

" _I'm Raine sir, and as long as I'm ordered to serve under you I will gut any and all Orks that come within a five-meter radius of you"_

his booming laughter was cut short as the other Dreadnought armed with a Reaper Autocannon and a chain fist stepped forward and lightly punched Raine in the shoulder

" _There'll be no need of you as long as I've got ammo"_ this other Dreadnought laughed heartily and then turned towards Eradius

" _I'm sorry I forgot about you, my names Tyrus and I'll be here to make sure you don't die before we make it to Horus"_

Tyrus laughed once more. Eradius looked at his new squads and smiled to himself " _Alright men we start for the mountain path as soon we are ready, so grab ammo and anything else you'll need before we head off"_ Eradius finished and went to grab more ammo and repair his shield.

Once they were ready they gathered once more and marched into the mountains, Wyatt and his Scouts went on ahead to scan the area while Eradius and his squad and the two Dreadnoughts stayed behind. Wyatt and his Scouts came back in a rush

" _Sir there is a party of eight Ork boyz about a quarter of a mile away"_ Wyatt said as he came to a stop, Eradius nodded his appreciation and opened the Vox

" _Continue onward we will engage when we come within sight"_ Eradius then hefted his Bolter and signaled for his men to move forward. Surely enough, a quarter of a mile ahead there were eight Orks arguing amongst themselves, they seemed to be so consumed in their conversation that they didn't even notice the thundering steps of the Dreadnoughts

" _2_ _nd_ _Lieutenant Eradius, do I have permission to engage the xenos"_ Tyrus said as he and Raine stopped about thirty meters from the Orks, Eradius smiled to himself

" _Permission granted Tyrus, make sure that none survive"_ Eradius closed the channel and watched as the destruction played out. The first two Orks exploded in a red mist as Tyrus's Reaper Cannon unleashed a volley of devastating shells, the remaining six turned around in time to see the fire erupting from Raine's Heavy Flamer as it washed over them bringing them to their knees as they screamed curses at us,

" _Quiet them down, we don't need their screams to attract more Orks"_ Eradius called to the two Dreadnoughts " _aye Sir"_ Raine said as he stepped forward, with a few precise slashes with his Lightning claws the screams died down, the two Dreadnought turned toward Eradius as if to ask what to do next

" _Ok men continue on we need to make it to Horus as fast as we can, no further delays if possible"_ Eradius ordered, then continued down the path followed by his men.

After a few hours the group started to hear strange sounds around the bend of the path. Eradius looked toward Wyatt and nodded, without any words Wyatt and his Scouts slowly made their way closer towards the sounds eventually disappearing, in a few minutes a quiet voice came over the Vox

" _there seems to be another group of Orks of about fifty in number, they seem to be guarding the path to that lead to the capital here"_

Eradius pondered over this for a second thinking of the best approach to the situation, he then decided that he needed more information on how the Orks barricade was set up, so he turned the Vox back on

" _Lieutenant Wyatt can you give me more information on how the Orks are set up at their little barricade"_ Eradius let the channel close and waited for Wyatt's report. It had only been a few minutes when Wyatt's voice came over the Vox

" _Sir, they have a … what only could be called a wall with ten Orks on top, behind the wall facing towards us there is another ten Orks holed up behind a smaller wall only about a meter high, on the other side of the barricade there are thirty Orks holding the wall there"_

Eradius thought for another minute then opened all channels to his men

" _First off Wyatt, you'll take your squad and find a spot above this barricade, then Raine and Tyrus will charge this wall and bring it down, once they accomplish this I will lead my squad along with Raine and Tyrus and we will exterminate the Orks on our side of the barricade, now Wyatt once the wall comes down I assume the Orks on the other side of the barricade will rush over to provide support when they do this you and your men will take them out with precision, is this clear"_

Eradius waited for confirmation from his men, " _yes sir"_ all the Astartes replied as they began to take position. Once again Wyatt's voice quietly came over the Vox

" _We are in position Sir"_ Eradius signaled to Raine and Tyrus, both Dreadnoughts built up speed as they rounded the corner and came up to the ramshackle wall of the Orks and barreled though it sending the Orks on top flying, once this happened Eradius ordered his squad to charge in behind the Dreadnoughts as sniper rounds rained down on the Orks approaching from the far wall, Tyrus began to hack the Orks apart with his Chainfist and Raine with his Lightning Claws, Eradius and his men charged into the chaos shooting and slicing at the surprised Orks, after what seemed like hours but in reality was only a mere two minutes all fifty Orks were on the ground in pieces and Wyatt and his squad began to make their way back to the main group. Once they were regrouped Eradius ordered his men onward to provide their support to Horus.

 **So, this is the first chapter I hope you enjoyed it and please leave a review**

 **Also I know the punctuation might suck or the writing itself might be a bit awkward so please just struggle through it, I'll hopefully get better as time goes on**


	2. Battle of Ullanor Part 2

**In this chapter Eradius and his men will meet another challenge, how will they conquer it this time? On the serious side Eradius and his men will be meeting the Primarch Horus… so yeah, he'll be fun writing for!**

* * *

Eradius stepped out of the mountains with his men, where they were greeted by an entire company of the Luna Wolves and at the front stood the Primarch himself, Horus. Eradius and his men went to their knees in front of the Primarch "My Lord Horus, I on behalf of the Imperial Fists offer you our small squad of men to you and your efforts"

Eradius said still looking down at the ground waiting for the Primarch's response "Stand up all of you, never bow to me again if you know what's good for you" Horus looked at Eradius with a scowl for a moment before it broke into a wide grin and he began to laugh, Horus reached out to him and placed a hand on his shoulder "I'm joking with you, but please don't bow for I am not a god, you may look to me as an equal, another brother Astartes"

Saying this Horus spun on his heel and motioned for he and his men to follow. As they followed Eradius took the time to inspect Horus's grandiose figure, it seemed to him that Horus was the epitome of what a Primarch stood for, Horus cared for his men, he was persuasive and diplomatic when he needed to be, and he was terrifying and imposing when the time called for it.

Eradius shook his head and looked past Horus to the great tower ahead, it stood hundreds of feet in the air with the Ork Warboss known as "The Beast" standing at the top commanding his armies. He stopped and once again looked to Horus "What are we going to do about these Orks" Horus smiled at Eradius "We're going to go up to the front door and knock…really hard" saying this Horus turned to his Wolves "Luna Wolves, today we end this war with the Orks by cutting the head off of the serpent" the Luna Wolves raised their fists into the air and screamed _"FOR HORUS"_ with this said Horus, Eradius, and the Luna Wolves charged.

The two waves crashed together, pools of blood and gore spilling from both sides. Eradius stood in the front lines with his squad, he batted away Ork Choppas left and right, clip after clip firing into the Orks ranks, but they never seemed to dwindle. Eradius slung his bolter to the side and drew his sword and called his squad into formation, once their line of shields was formed Eradius opened his Vox "Let us push into their ranks brothers and carve a path to the Warboss, _FOR HORUS"_ to this his squad thrusted their swords into the air " _FOR HORUS"._

With that Eradius and his squad pushed against the Orks cutting down any that came within range, arms, legs, heads or anything else were quickly separated from the body and left behind lining the path behind him with gore. Eradius looked back to see the Luna Wolves quickly filling in the space behind his squads' path of destruction, Eradius could hears the cheers of the Wolves as they followed, some of the Wolves even came up and joined in on the killing their bolters and chainswords filling the air with a cacophony of noise and to Eradius it was beautiful.

Horus followed close behind him cleaving apart any foe dumb enough to come close enough to him, which to no surprise was a lot of foes, by the time Eradius came to the Ork's last few lines he could hardly move his arms. Eradius struggled to raise his shield but managed to just enough to not explode under the force of the Gorkanaught's claw as it struck.

Eradius was sent back into the ranks of the Luna Wolves as the giant Gorkanaught collided with the charging line of Astartes, its claw cutting through anyone unfortunate enough to be standing in its way, the Astartes fell back defending from Orks on all sides as a front was formed against the Gorkanaught. The Astartes fired everything they had at thing, but nothing affected it until Tyrus ran past the line and thrusted his fist deep into the chest cavity of the Gorkanaught, Tyrus pulled open the troop compartment of the Gorkanaught and stepped inside firing up into cockpit of the war machine.

As the Gorkanaught fell to the ground Tyrus stepped out and turned towards the onrushing Orks and began cutting their numbers down. Soon Raine joined in the front lines torching the Orks down to nothing but cinders, Eradius recovered and regrouped with his squad "Now, push through them with sword and bolter brothers" Eradius and his squad charged the next wave of Orks. Eradius rammed his shield into the Orks in front of him allowing him to finish them with little resistance. At the moment there weren't Orks hammering their lines, Eradius took this opportunity to rest against the fallen Gorkanaught and reload. He watched many other brothers do the same.

The peace was broken when an Ork jumped from atop the fallen Gorkanaught with a choppa raised above "WAAAAAGH"it screamed as it fell, Eradius hefted his shield up to block the falling Ork. The shield only slowed the Ork's choppa though, as it cut deep into the shield, and into his arm as well. Eradius fell on his back clutching his wounded arm, the Ork pulled its axe free from his shield and approached Eradius raising it high into the air, but before it could finish him its head exploded into a mist of red and Eradius let out a sigh as he dropped his smoking bolter "Damn Orks" Eradius said as he pushed himself up and grabbed his sword and his shield, He looked at his shield and decided it still had a little use in it left. Horus approached from the wake of an exploding Wartrukk "Get up men, we attack the Warboss now" Eradius stood and nodded hefting his bolter in a one-handed grip.

* * *

Eradius now stood behind the charging line following at a light pace, the Astartes around him now seemed to almost outnumber the remaining Orks. Eradius bellowed as he fell upon an Ork that had fallen, hacking it apart limb by limb. The charging line slowed as it reached the base of the Ork tower, they stopped and gazed up in awe at the sheer size of it. Eradius did the same, and as he and his brothers did so, he noticed large hatches open on the walls of the tower. Thousands of guns spilled out from these hatches, and the base of the tower rumbled, shaking the very ground beneath it.

As it rose, two enormous treads were revealed. As the Astartes moved forward, the Gargant shifted and began to move forward crushing any unlucky soul too slow to move out of its path of destruction. Eradius looked up at the Gargant as it slowly passed over, where he saw a great many patches along the bottom of it's hull. The treads themselves even had sloppy patches holding them together, giving Eradius an idea.

He quickly turned on the vox "Brothers come to me" in a minute his squad had formed up on him. Eradius gave chase to the Gargant's massive treads, his squad following in his wake, as he ran, he found a storm shield of a fallen Luna Wolf it's bleach-white a sharp contrast to the golden yellow of his armor. They approached one of the treads quickly, Eradius quickly detached a melta-bomb from his hip and pulled the pin, throwing the bomb directly into the path of the tread.

As it drove over the melta-bomb, it detonated, causing the tread to disconnect and slide off the track, the Gargant kept moving for another hundred meters, until the damaged track sunk into the mud. This left the Gargant trapped and immobile, just the way the Astartes preferred. Eradius pressed forward and climbed onto the track, he and his squad made a hole in the lower deck and entered the enemy's domain.

Eradius hurriedly looked around as the Orks were in disarray, he quickly spotted a crude stair case and rushed towards it, he hacked apart any foe that dared to step in his way. He sped up the staircase, any Ork that came down the stairs was either sent falling down the side or was hacked down to size. Slowly Eradius pushed up through the Gargant, when he came to the cockpit, Eradius pinned the pilot to the controls while his squad executed any remaining Orks in the area.

Their slaughter was interrupted by a booming voice from up above "HEY WHATZ HAPPININ' DOWN 'ERE BOYZ" The Ork Warboss lowered his head into the cockpit only for his eyes to widen in anger as he saw the squad of Imperial Fists. "YOU AIN'T MY BOYZ, YOUZ SPACE MARINES" The Ork jumped down, his bulk almost filling the entire room, leaving just enough room for the squad of Astartes to raise their blades to strike, but the Warboss was faster than any of them swinging his clawed arm across the cockpit sending everyone into the walls, he quickly grabbed one of the Astartes by the chest with said claw and drug him closer to himself.

The Warboss looked him up and down before taking the Astartes head in one massive paw and pulling it off, spine and all, as if he were just a toy, discarding the body at his feet. Eradius just watched in morbid fascination, at this simple display of brute strength, but his squad did not, they fired their bolter ceaselessly into the flesh of the Ork Warboss.

The eruption of gunfire brought Eradius' attention back, he raised his bolter and began firing alongside his squad, the Warboss thrashed about in the small room destroying anything he met. The gunfire slowed as each Astartes ran out of ammo, Eradius drew his Chainsword and lunged forward catching the Warboss on the arm, his squad soon followed suit and they quickly began putting small cuts across the Ork's body, this only sent their foe into a greater fury as he swung his massive fists around the room just missing the agile Astartes with each swing.

The battle was cut short as one of the Astartes lunged forwards with all his might and drove his sword deep into the Warboss' chest, this slowed the quite dramatically, to the point that each Astartes took their turn in doing the same. In the end the Ork Warboss lay still against the back wall of the cockpit with eight chainswords protruding from his chest.

* * *

Eradius' smile broadened, his once brown hair now streaked with silver, and his once clean face now scarred and full of light stubble. His armor now replaced with a loose-fitting yellow robe "- and that is how the war of Ullanor ended" he said looking down to the six young children sitting at his feet. One of the children raised their hand, Eradius nodded towards the child "Sir what happened after you killed the Warboss?" Eradius put his hand to his chin as he thought for a moment "Well, if I remember correctly the Orks began to lose their morale, until it was nothing but a slaughter" he said.

Another child raised his hand to speak, once again Eradius nodded for the child to speak "Sir, can you tell us another story" Eradius chuckled and looked over his shoulder to the doorway, but no one was there "well I guess I can, but don't tell Captain Cadriel about this ok?" and with that Eradius dove into his tale. "It all started when Cadriel, Maltheus, and I were sent on a diplomatic mission to the world of Edrov"

* * *

 **Done, sorry if this one took a little while, our family's been hit with one thing after another lately. But now that stuffs over and done so I should be updating more regularly.**


	3. The Fall of Edrov

**Well updating's gotten about ten times harder, since my dog got back from his operation. I can't leave him alone, or even let him get off his bed without me there to support his 150lb ass. So, it's been a little hard to keep him in my office without freaking out, but it seems that I've made him sit still long enough to be able to write this. Sorry about the wait you guys!**

The stormbird glided softly through the planet's atmosphere as Cadriel, Maltheus and Eradius talked between themselves. Cadriel looked towards Eradius "Brother, why do you insist on wearing that cloak, it's not even one from our own legion" Eradius looked down to the white cloak that hung loosely around the pauldrons of his armor.

"It was a gift from the Warmaster after the crusade on Ullanor, why do you ask Brother, are you perhaps jealous that you cannot look as magnificent as I?" Cadriel simply rolled his eyes "Of course, just as jealous as Maltheus is of my superior swordsmanship" he said nodding towards Maltheus who raised his head "Do not start what you can't finish brother" he retorted flashing a grin towards Eradius. "Hahaha, Oh I think we should test this when we return" Cadriel said.

Eradius went silent for a moment as he listened to his brothers speak, the two continued to speak of their achievements till Cadriel's voice broke through "What's wrong Eradius you just went silent there?" he looked up to Cadriel and "Why did you choose me Cadriel?" Cadriel seemed at a loss for word for a moment "What do you mean Brother, choose you for what exactly?" Eradius looked to Maltheus who nodded but said nothing.

Eradius had spoken to Maltheus on this subject before but it was always the same answer _It is not my place to guess at another's words Eradius, if you are so curious ask him._ Eradius let out a soft sigh and looked back to Cadriel "Why did you choose me as Tordaval's successor?"

For a minute Cadriel said nothing he just looked at Eradius, but he eventually broke the silence "Tordaval spoke highly of you Eradius, you must know that by now, he groomed you to be the next captain of 5th company. So, I had no other choice but to choose the most eligible candidate" he waited a moment for Eradius to speak up, only to be met with silence, Cadriel turned back to Matheus as he left Eradius to himself.

 _Is this why Tordaval brought me into his personal squad after Ullanor? It'd make sense, after joining his side I became his shadow, if Tordaval went to a meeting he brought me along, if he trained, I would be there as well, if he led our company in battle, I'd carry his banner._

Eradius looked up once more "Thank you Brother" Cadriel didn't speak, he just rested a hand on Eradius' shoulder and smiled. Their moment of bonding was broken by the crackle of the Vox " _ **We are landing in five minutes**_ " the pilot said. Hearing this the three of them each snapped their helmet's in place.

Cadriel spoke into the Vox " _ **check"**_

Maltheus followed suit " _ **check**_ "

Eradius spoke last " _ **check**_ "

Cadriel spoke through the Vox-speaker in his helm "Good when we land, I will do the talking" he looked to Eradius "Is that clear, I know this is your first-time doing this. Only speak when I address you" he then turned to Maltheus "and you…try not to…kill anyone" saying this the stormbird shuddered and fell silent, once again a crackle filled the air " _ **We have landed, there seems to be a welcoming party for you, try not to get me shot**_ " the pilot said only half joking.

The hatch door opened slowly revealing the three hulking figures, as the ramp touched the ground they stepped out. In front of them stood twenty humans, at the head of the group was a portly man in satin robes trimmed in gold. This man stepped forward "Hello grand soldiers of the Imperium, I am Balthus the High King of Edrov, it is wonderful to meet another faction of humanity amongst the stars" Balthus bowed as did the others behind him.

Cadriel nodded and spoke through the Vox-speaker "I am Cadriel, Captain of 1st company of the Imperial Fists" He then motioned towards Maltheus "I am Maltheus, Captain of 2nd company" Cadriel then motioned to Eradius who adjusted his shield one last time "I am Eradius, Captain of 5th company"

Cadriel nodded his approval and returned his gaze to Balthus who adjusted his robe "Well met Sir Cadriel now follow me, come along" Balthus turned around and began walking to a grand palace, as they walked Eradius looked at the sculptures and shrubbery along the road. Everything around the palace was beautiful, the architecture of the palace itself emphasized the magnificence of everything around it.

But the longer he looked the more he felt some sick familiar feeling. His heart began to drum, he checked for his Chainsword and bolter finding them both in place at his hip. As they stepped into the palace Eradius figured out why he felt this pain, what he saw were slaves that followed their masters with sullen looks. But as they walked in everyone's eyes were drawn to the three Astartes, but Balthus continued to lead them farther into the palace.

They were led up into the high tower of the palace where they came to a large room, filled with nobles talking quietly between themselves, their slaves bringing drinks from other rooms. As the door to this king's throne room, Cadriel spoke over the Vox " _ **Eradius stay out here, and stand guard at the door, I don't like this place**_ "

Eradius nodded and stopped at the door and stood off to the side. Balthus looked from Eradius to Cadriel "Sir Cadriel why does your man stay outside, should he not come with us?" Cadriel shook his head "No, Eradius will stay out here and mingle with your people to create proper bonds between us" Balthus glanced at Eradius once more but relented "That is fine I suppose, let us continue" the three of them walked into the throne room followed by four guards.

Eradius looked around the room at the dozens of people stealing glances at him then returning to their whispers, he ignored them at first, then a new sound emerged over the top of the whispers, crying, Eradius looked around trying to find the source of this new sound when his eyes fell on a single woman not twenty feet from him in the corner of the room, she was naked except for the gold collar around her neck, her master stalking towards her with a sway in his step.

Eradius knew he couldn't watch, so he stepped towards her, stopping in front of her drunken master "What is going on here?" Eradius questioned. The man looked Eradius up and down then smiled "T-this whore of mine r-ran away just before I could…break her in, and now she's to be p-punished" Eradius took the man by the shoulder "Sir you seem like your not in the correct state to deal out punishment, shall I take over for you?"

The man seemed to think for a second before smiling and patting Eradius on the chest "W-why good sir that sounds great, now I'm to bed, don't hurt her too much, I plan to use her later" the drunk said the last part in a whisper. Watching him leave Eradius approached the woman holding his hand out as if to help her up.

She glanced at it warily then took it "Don't be afraid I won't hurt you" he said as soothingly as he could, she looked up into his visor "who…are…you" she let out slowly flinching at every word. Eradius couldn't look at her anymore in this state, he reached up to the clasps at his shoulders and undid them, letting his cloak fall into his hands. He then held it out to her "My name is Eradius, now please take this and cover yourself"

She did, clumsily wrapping herself in the thick white cloth. As she finished, she bowed her head towards Eradius "Thank you my Lord, I am Isabell" Eradius knelt down to the woman "Call me Eradius, now tell me, are you hurt?"

Isabell shook her head "No my Lor-… _Uhm_ No Eradius, I am fine" Eradius put his hand on her shoulder giving her a soft squeeze of comfort. The two them spoke together for a long while like this, Eradius told her of the Imperium and of the Astartes, she simply listened captivated by each word, she opened her mouth to ask him something when bolter fire roared from the throne room.

The Vox hissed " _ **Eradius, negotiations have gone bad, the King has fled into some sort of bunker, and we've just killed the guards, be ready to cover us**_ " Eradius shook Isabell "Stay behind me, okay?" She nodded to stunned to form words.

As the door to the throne room burst open, Cadriel and Maltheus stormed out weapons raised Eradius closed ranks with them followed by Isabell, Cadriel either didn't notice or didn't care because he just continued through the hall.

The nobles scattered after they came out, offering no resistance at all, that was until they came to the ground floor. There were twenty men lined up, guns raised and fixed on the Astartes, Eradius lifted his shield up along with his bolter and began to fire, Cadriel and Maltheus did as well, the rounds coming from Edrovians simply bounced off their armor, but the rounds coming from their bolters didn't do the same.

Their rounds turned the offending guards into a fine red mist in seconds. Cadriel led them outside towards the stormbird, the hatch opened, and their pilot waved them onward, as they stepped inside Cadriel marched over to the long-ranged Vox

" _ **This is First Captain Cadriel to**_ _ **Strike Cruiser**_ _ **Triumphant, respond**_ "

The reply came almost instantly " _ **Triumphant to First Captain Cadriel, what is your command?**_ "

Cadriel paused and looked to his fellow Captains, Eradius and Maltheus both nodded, Cadriel heaved a great sigh

" _ **Send in First company Triumphant**_ "

The Vox crackled once last time " _ **Triumphant, all stormbirds and drop pods have been deployed, may the Emperor be with you**_ "

With these words the three of them walked outside of the stormbird, Isabell made to follow when Eradius stopped her "Stay here, it will be safer trust me" Eradius closed the ramp as he stepped back out, his Brothers looked at him "Why is she here Eradius?" Cadriel asked at last "I want to save at least one life today, before we claim thousands" Eradius said checking his bolter, Cadriel simply shrugged and looked to the sky.

As they looked up fire filled the sky as drop pods burned through the atmosphere. Flak cannons fire endlessly into the sky uselessly, the drop pods pushed through it all, not even one took damage.

All the while Edrovian soldiers poured out into the streets, into courtyards, and fields, Edrovian armor rolled out as fast as it could, though it was too late. The first drop pod that landed burst open and golden sons of Dorn charged out bolters raised tearing into the enemy. More and more drop pods fell onto the planet's surface, releasing first company onto it.

The sounds of engine and the fire of heavy bolters filled the air above as the Stormbirds arrived, they unloaded their squads then returned to the air. The city below had turned into a massacre, blood pooled in the streets, bodies lay in pieces as the Astartes pushed through line after line.

Eradius, Cadriel, Maltheus and a hundred other Astartes pushed back into the palace, every house guard that raised their arms against them was killed, every noble that led their men was slaughtered, every servant forced to defend their master was slain.

They cleared every room, every tower, every safehouse, till they once again came to the throne room, the throne had slid backwards revealing a sealed hatch underneath, Eradius hailed his men "We need a meltabomb" one Astarte ran up and began setting up the meltabomb while the others fell back to a safe a distance, once finished he fell back with his brothers and detonated the bomb. Intense heat washed over them as the hatch melted almost entirely, Frak grenades followed, explosions rang one after another, the screams of those unfortunate enough to be near the hatch filled the air, then the Astartes dropped in.

Eradius cut down another guard as he navigated the tunnels of the bunker, his Chainsword cut through soldier after soldier with each stroke, he crushed men against the tight tunnel walls with his shield, rounds ricocheted off his armor only managing to tear away paint.

The screams died away, Eradius kicked open a strong wooden door, and there sat King Balthus, surrounded by soldiers each one charged at Eradius, willing to die for their weak King, each fell without struggle until all that remained were Eradius and Balthus.

He stood now donning golden armor from head to toe "I didn't want it to end like this Balthus, all you had to do was join the Imperium, how hard was that" Balthus glared at him from under his helm "and give up our way of life, give up my position as king, there was no way I would agree to those terms"

Balthus charged Eradius pistol firing continuously, sword pointed down. Eradius put his Chainsword away, he batted away Balthus' sword and took him by the neck, he squeezed slowly, watching the life drain out of him bit by bit, then a wet _crack_ filled the room and Balthus fell limp.

Eradius left the room, left the bunker, and stepped out onto a balcony in the throne room, the city was aflame, a cacophony of gunfire could be heard in the distance "Pointless" Eradius said to himself. "what do you mean brother" Cadriel said from behind him, Eradius turned back to Cadriel "This war, it was decided when it started, they had no chance" they both looked over the city as stormbirds dove, as explosions went, buildings collapsed, and fires spread. Cadriel put his hand on Eradius' shoulder "that is the fate of those who are too stubborn to better themselves" Cadriel left, leaving Eradius to watch over the wanton destruction.

Bodies were piled and burned by those who stood with the Astartes, slaves, servants, even some of the minor nobility. Eradius found himself on the Triumphant with Isabell at his side "Eradius what happens to me now?" she asked fear in her voice "You may help me if you wish, help clean my weapons, don my armor, and in return I shall make sure you never suffer like you did before, you shall remain by my side till the day you die"

For a long while she didn't say anything, until at last the spell was broken, she leaned into his side "I think I'd like that"


End file.
